Wall Street Journal Rips McMaster

S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster – whose front-running gubernatorial campaign has hit a major ethical speed bump – found himself on the receiving end of a scathing Wall Street Journal editorial Thursday.

The article, called “Suing In South Carolina,” refers to McMaster’s receipt of campaign contributions from lawyers he hired (with taxpayer funds) as a “sweetheart deal,” one that’s “rife with conflicts of interest.”

In case anyone thought pay-to-play legal rackets were solely Democratic scandals, look to South Carolina, where Attorney General Henry McMaster is proving that Republicans can also get cozy with the plaintiffs bar …

.. In 1991, South Carolina passed a law specifically prohibiting individuals with no-bid state contracts from donating to officials in a position to act on those contracts. Mr. McMaster claims the law doesn’t apply to lawyers, despite clear language (“any person”) to the contrary. The judge in the case this month denied Lilly’s request to disqualify the private lawyers, so Mr. McMaster is claiming victory and refusing to return the money …

… as for Mr. McMaster, voters should consider what his pay-to-play schemes reveal about his political ethics.

Indeed.

Of course the real story, as far as we’re concerned, isn’t that McMaster took this money – it’s that he’s refusing to give it back.